So, judging from list response to the original post, a number of listmembers
have reported that the struts lasted a long time and worked well, but three
people report that one blew out on them fairly quickly.  (One of the three
purchased his at a local FLAPS, but since he claims them to have been OEM,
they may have been the same brand.)

Bear in mind that we ship half a dozen or more of these struts EACH DAY, so
two or three reports of failure altogether amounts to a miniscule defect
rate. Nevertheless, it is impossible to rule out the possibility of a bad
batch, despite the low failure rate.  The stuts carry a one year warranty
against manufacturing defects (honored by The Bus Depot if purchased from
us), so in the event that one fails, you're covered.

The struts are made by Sachs/Boge, the original supplier to Volkswagen.
These are the best available.  If you pay more than twice the price from the
VW dealer you will get the same strut.

I sell a standard and a heavy duty version.  The heavy duty ones will make
the hatch harder to close, but last longer, and allow the hatch to stay open
in any position, and can even support the weight of a bike rack.  The
standard-duty ones are made by a different OE German supplier, Lemforder, so
even if there was a bad batch of the heavy-duty ones, it would not affect
the standard ones.  Some people have asked if you can play it down the
middle and use one standard and one heavy duty one, and get a
slightly-heavier-duty-than-stock result.  Yes you can, although lifespan may
be slightly reduced.

Hope this answers any questions.

- Ron Salmon
  The Bus Depot, Inc.
  http://www.busdepot.com
  (215) 234-VWVW